1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to device for automatically switching vehicle characteristics, such a softness or hardness of a suspension system of the vehicle, sharpness or hardness of a steering system of the vehicle or the like, depending upon the state of a road on which the vehicle, such as an automobile, is running.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, a vehicle has been developed in which a suspension system can be switched to soft or hard condition or a steering system can be switched to soft or hard condition, by a driver's manual selection of a change-over switch. In the vehicle of this type, the suspension system is set to its soft side and the steering system is set to its sharp side when the vehicle is running on a normal surface street, while the suspension system is set to its hard side and the steering system is set to its soft side when the vehicle is running on a high-speed highway, for example, so that the vehicle can be driven with optimum vehicle characteristics, depending upon a state of the road on which the vehicle is running.
In such a vehicle, a device for switching the vehicle characteristics is manually operated by a driver who selects a change-over switch, and such selection of the switching of the vehicle characteristics requires a complicated operation, because it is difficult to set the optimum vehicle characteristics, depending on the state of a road, by properly selecting a combination of a plurality of systems such as the suspension system, the steering system and the like.